Chapter 17
"Now, children, the girls have to find the right dresses, while the boys need to find nice suits. Let's see now…" Maria paused to think.
The children were just looking at her expectedly. "Why don't the girls start looking around for dresses? I'll go help the boys first since
they'll probably be easier to find. Louisa, could you help the little ones find a proper dress?" Maria asked. Louisa groaned. "Do I have
to fraulein? I mean, Liesl is the one that usually does all that. I'm totally not the person to ask for advice- especially when it comes to
dresses for little girls." Maria looked at Louisa sympathetically. "I know, Louisa. But, you're the oldest girl here right now. Liesl is with
your father right now, so in the meantime, you're going to have to be in charge while I'm gone." Maria said firmly. Louisa sighed, but
obediently led her younger sisters to a rack of dresses. Maria breathed a sigh of relief. Phew…
"Now, boys, I want you to look around quickly, grab ones that you like, and bring them back over here. I will see if they're proper,
and you can try them on and see if you like them ok?" The boys grunted unhappily. "Ok" They slowly walked over to the boy's section
and began inspecting the clothes there and grabbing whatever they liked. Within a few minutes, they came back to Maria, with the
clothes that they thought were suitable. Maria had been looking at some of the clothes, thinking of the possibilities of the type of dress
that she was going to make for herself. "Well, those seem to be just fine for the party." Maria smiled at them. "Why don't you go to the
dressing room and see how it looks. If you like it, it's yours." The boys dashed for the dressing room, eager to get it over with. It took
no time at all for the boys to find something that they liked. Maria was surprised to see the boys back so soon. "Back so soon?" The
boys nodded. "OH yes, Fraulein! I can't stand to be here any longer! Can we please just buy it and go?" Maria laughed. "Ah, that's
why you found things so quickly! Alright, let me go purchase it and we'll be going." She walked over to the cashier, paid for it, and
walked back to the boys. "Let's go" The two boys looked relieved and quickly followed her out of the store. When they reached the
shop where the girls were, the boys told Maria that they wanted to wait outside. Maria hesitantly agreed, under one condition: that they
would stay put and not go anywhere. The boys complained but Maria said that if they wanted to wait outside, they would have to do it
without moving anywhere. The boys grumbled, and finally said that they were going to go inside. Maria smiled to herself. Young boys,
always so predictable. She thought. She led the boys inside the shop, and went in search of the girls.
When Maria found the girls, she found them looking through racks of dresses. "Hey girls! How are things coming along?" The girls'
heads snapped up. "Oh, Fraulein you're here! We really need your help. We can't seem to decide on an outfit for Louisa." Brigitta
reported. "What's the problem?" Maria asked. "Well," Brigitta began. "Louisa refused to try on any of the dresses that I suggested.
So, after a while, I got a little impatient, so I told her to go find her own dress. So she's been choosing dresses, but none of them are
proper!" "It's not my fault my taste isn't as 'high-class' as you, little miss-perfect!" Louisa retorted. Brigitta just gave her a rotten look.
"HEY!" Maria shouted, cutting in. "Louisa, let's see the dresses that you want." Louisa silently handed Maria the dresses. Maria eyed
the material critically. It was white, with lacey material. The gown flared nicely from the waist, down. Although Maria had to admit that
it was pretty, she thought it was rather childish for someone like Louisa. The children watched her examine the dress. She turned to
Louisa and said, "I have to admit that this is a very nice dress that you picked. It's simple, but would look nice on you. However, I
realize that it looks rather childish…" She trailed off when she saw Louisa's face pinched in anger. "I don't care if it looks childish! I
like it, and that's what I want." Louisa said, stubbornly. Maria sighed, and said, "Are you sure, Louisa?" Louisa nodded firmly. Maria
sighed again. "Alright." Louisa got a triumphant look on her face. Brigitta just looked away in disgust. "What about you, girls?" Maria
turned to Brigitta and Marta. "Did you find anything you like?" Brigitta and Marta bobbed their heads. "Oh yes, Fraulein!" Marta said
excitedly. She handed Maria her dress of choice. Again, Maria examined the dress. The color is nice…it has nice puffy sleeves…
strong material…shiny…Maria looked at Marta who was waiting nervously. "It's perfect, Marta!" Maria said. Marta beamed.
"Now," Maria continued, "what about you, Brigitta?"…
Meanwhile, in a coffee shop, Captain von Trapp was having a nice chat with his eldest daughter. "…And then, she fell off the coast,
where I rescued her from drowning. I guess that was when she started noticing me." The captain finished telling Liesl about the time he
had met Agathe. Liesl sighed dreamily. "What happened after that?" Georg smiled, thinking of it. "Well, she and I started talking on a
daily basis, which led to me asking her out for dinner, which led to…well you get the picture." Liesl nodded, her eyes shining. "That's
so romantic." Georg chuckled. "Well, not really." Liesl grinned. "I guess if you really think about it, it's not, but still, for someone as
inexperienced with love as I am, it is." Liesl sighed again, this time, with discontentment. Georg looked at his daughter in concern. He
never really discussed the issue of relationships with Liesl. Now as he studied his daughter's face, he observed that she looked
unhappy. "Liesl…" Georg began, not wanting to put his daughter into anymore pain, but knowing that he had to ask. "Are you having
boy problems?" Liesl looked at her father with a startled look on her face. Georg noted her doing that, and he detected a trace of fear
in her eyes. "Liesl?" he prodded. Liesl slowly nodded. "I don't want to talk about it." She said quietly. Georg nodded in understanding.
"I understand. But, it helps to talk about it, you know." Liesl slowly nodded but didn't say anything. "If you don't want to talk about it,
I understand. But if you want to, I'm here for you." He finally said, breaking the silence. Liesl looked at him gratefully. Maybe I should
tell him...Liesl thought. Looking at her father's face, she knew that he really wanted to help. She also knew that she could trust him
with anything, but she wasn't sure if he was the one to go to for guy problems. After all, he was a guy. Usually, when girls have their
hearts broken, they go to their moms. But she didn't have a mom. The only person she could consider ever being a mother figure
was…Fraulein Maria. But even then, she didn't know if she was willing to tell Maria about it. After all, Maria probably never even
went through that stuff. Sighing, Liesl knew that her only option was to either talk to her father about it, or suppress all her feelings
inside for the rest of her life. Liesl took a deep breathe, and said, "Father?" He was now busy eating. Georg immediately stopped
eating, and looked at her. "I'm ready to talk about it now." Georg said, "I'm listening." "Well, it all started when…."
There you go! I hope it wasn't TOO short! Hoped you liked it! I'm sorry if I take so long to update my stories, but I was too lazy to do it, so…I need encouragement people! LOL. Read and Review! ) Please and Thank you.